


Feelings For You

by petermjjj



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), Spideychelle - Fandom, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), petermj
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-14
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-06-27 10:44:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15683832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/petermjjj/pseuds/petermjjj
Summary: Michelle is dating Nick Miller. Nick has been best friends with Peter Parker since they were little kids, but what Nick doesn't know is that Michelle and Peter are harboring secret feelings for each other. How will Michelle deal with her feelings for her boyfriend of nearly two years and her hidden emotions towards his best friend? How will Peter come to terms with the fact that he's in love with his best friend's girlfriend?





	1. Chapter 1

Michelle

  
It’s a Friday night and I’m getting ready for Peter Parker’s annual back to school party. Peter is my boyfriend’s best friend and teammate; it’s been this way since they kicked it off at their first youth football practice when they were ten years old.

Nick and I have only been together for about two years. He was the first person I met when I was new to Midtown High School and who I kind of latched onto during the first few months of school. A few days after me being at Midtown I tried out for the cheerleading squad and my prior competition experience from my other school allowed me to become the captain of the team the following year. So, I guess you could say that Nick and I are your cliché football player and cheerleader couple.

I like Nick a lot but sometimes I feel like besides the fact that we like to put on a show for other people and enjoy making out, we don’t actually have a lot in common. And this might sound bad but when I was a freshman getting with Nick seemed like the best way to get people to know who Michelle Jones was.  
  
My phone buzzes on the charger and I rest my beauty blender on the white vanity in front of me to check who it is.  
  
It’s a text from Nick.  
  
**Just picked up alcohol. Gonna drop it off at Peter’s and then come get u.**  
  
Nick used to use his older brother’s old ID to get alcohol but now he goes into the liquor store on 15th street so much that they don’t even card him anymore. He’s dropping the alcohol off at Peter’s which gives me approximately ten minutes to finish getting ready so I rush the last few steps of my makeup routine which consists of me putting on concealer and an unhealthy amount of mascara. When I finish taming my curls I head downstairs to wait for Nick in the living room where my family is watching a movie.  
  
I plop down on the couch next to my 10 year old sister Ava who’s sporting a matching Moana pajama set and a messy bun.  
  
“Where are you going?” She asks without looking up from the television screen. My mom, dad and Ava have a movie marathon every Friday; this how they bond since dad lives at work on the weekdays. Mom is already passed out in the recliner seat with a glass of wine threatening to spill all over her lap and dad is so invested in the action movie that I don’t think he even notices my presence.  
  
“Party at Peter’s,” I reply, taking a handful of popcorn out of the bowl on her lap and shoving it in my mouth.  
  
She makes a face. “I like Peter. He isn’t mean like Nick.”  
  
“Nick isn’t mean,” I say while chewing. “You just like Peter because he gives you extra sprinkles when I take you to May’s.”  
  
May’s is an ice cream shop about five minutes away from my house. Peter’s aunt May and his uncle Ben joined the ice cream business when they were really young and now they have five locations in New York and a really high ranking. Ben passed away when Peter was thirteen and ever since Peter’s been picking up shifts and helping May run the place. I honestly would not expect anything less from because he genuinely likes helping people out; that’s just the type of person he is.

“Okay true. But I still don’t like Nick!” she emphasizes.  
  
My dad finally decides to join the conversation by lowering his neck and whispering in Ava’s ear loud enough so I can hear. “I don’t like him either kid.”  
  
Ava giggles and I roll my eyes.  
  
“You guys are so immature,” I make sure to emphasize every syllable in the word immature so they get the point. My dad playfully puts both palms up in defense and I try to hide my laughter. My dad isn’t too fond of Nick because he always makes up excuses so he doesn’t have to stay over for dinner and it hurts mom’s feelings.  
  
Just when I’m about to say something else I get a text from Nick saying that he’s outside.  
  
“Wellll I wouldn’t want to intrude on the ‘I hate Nick’ club or anything so I’m just gonna go,” I say, getting up and making my way to the front door.  
  
Just as I’m about to close the door I hear my dad yell. “Remember no later than two o’clock!”

“Got it Pops,” I yell back loudly.  
  
It’s a chilly fall night which is great because sometimes Peter’s parties get so packed that I have no choice but to go outside for fresh air.  
  
As I get closer to Nick’s range rover I hear rap music blasting through his speakers and see him bumping his head to the beat of whatever song is playing. I open the door and hop in, immediately putting my seat belt on before greeting him because he drives way too fast for my liking.  
  
“Hey hot stuff,” He yells over the blaring music, pulling out of the driveway and making his way to Peter’s.

“Hey,” I say smoothly. “I thought you were gonna drop the liquor off at Peter’s.” I kick the forty pack of beer at my feet and turn my head to see the rest of the alcohol lying on the back seat.  
  
“Wait sorry what are you saying?” He questions turning the music down to a decent volume.  
  
“I said. I thought you were gonna drop the stuff off before you came to get me.”  
  
He scratches the back of his neck with one hand while keeping his right on the steering wheel. “Oh uh.  Yeah well I thought it would just make more sense to get you first since Parker lives a few streets down from you.”  
  
I cock my head to the side and look at him funnily. “Yeah but I thought you didn’t like to drive around with alcohol in your car.”  
  
“Yeah well don’t make it a big deal. There are barely any cops on the road tonight.”  
  
“Okay tough guy,” I punch him in the arm playfully and laugh but I notice that he’s more tense now.  
  
“Okay I didn’t mean to spook you I was just wondering,” I say when he doesn’t laugh with me.  
  
“I know I know,” he says back but his emotions don’t change. He turns the music back up and we don’t talk for the rest of the ride.  
  
We pull up in front of Peter’s house not long after and Nick turns the ignition off. His phone buzzes in his pocket but he doesn’t make a move to look at it.  
  
“Probably Parker, let’s go,” He announces while swiftly picking the beer up from my feet and getting out.  
  
I get out and notice that I’m annoyed with Nick because of the way he’s acting. When he comes to my side of the car he pays me no attention and piles the other bags of alcohol onto the box of beer.  
  
Instead of asking if he needs help I decide to make him struggle and walk up the steps that lead up to Peter’s house. Music is already playing through the loud speakers but there’s barely anyone here because it’s still early. I say hi to the few football players that are in the living room and make my way to the kitchen knowing for a fact that Peter is still setting up in there.  
  
When I enter the room Peter’s back is turned away from the doorway and I see that he’s adding different kinds of fruit flavored juices to a cooler that I suppose is going to be the jungle juice for the party. He’s wearing a red flannel and light blue jeans and his brown hair is slicked back like how it is every day.  
  
I decide to poke him on the back to get his attention which is a bad move because he jumps and drops an entire liter of juice.  
  
“Jesus fuck,” he curses.  
  
I cover my mouth with my hands and speak through them, giggling uncontrollably. “Oh my gosh I forgot you scare easily, Parker.”  
  
“Ha ha,” he says assessing the mess that he made because of me.  
  
I look around the room and when I see the paper towels I run over to grab them and toss them in Peter’s direction; to my surprise he catches the roll with one hand.  
  
“Hey you don’t play football by any chance, do you?” I mess with him while walking back over to the actual mess.  
  
“You’ve got jokes tonight huh?”  
  
“Plenty.”  
  
He rolls his eyes playfully and gets on his knees to clean up the spill. “Well why don’t you make yourself useful and pour the rest of the juices in the mix.”   
  
I put my right hand up to my forehead to and pretend like I’m saluting him and he just shakes his head while laughing.  
  
Peter and I have always had a playful relationship which is why I enjoy being around him. Everyone likes him because he’s super funny, attractive and you don’t have to be really close friends with him to have a good conversation. If it isn’t Nick who girls want, and can’t have for obvious reasons, its Peter.  
  
“Where Dick?” He asks. Dick is a name Peter came up with for Nick when they were in eighth grade because Nick dumped his middle school girlfriend in front of all of her friends on her birthday.  
  
I open my mouth to answer and Nick comes bustling into the kitchen with the drinks.  
  
“So nice of you to help Michelle,” he sets the beverages on the ground and looks up at me in disbelief. I give him a tight, sarcastic smile with no teeth.  
  
He shakes his head before turning to Peter so they can do their man handshake. “What’s up man! Ready for the best banger of the century?!”  
  
“You bet,” he says excitedly, walking to the trash can to throw the now wet paper towels away. “Oh, and May doesn’t want your ass driving home tonight so I hope you packed a bag.”  
  
“Can I sleep in her bed,” He winks and Peter winces.  
  
“Nick why do you have to be so gross?” I question him, annoyed. I pour the last bit of juice into the cooler, moving away so Peter can mix in the alcohol.  
  
“Jesus, It was just a joke Mj!” He shoots back with his hands up. I ignore him and move to the other side of the kitchen.  
  
“Yeah Dick don’t be so gross,” Peter thumps him on the back of the head and moves away quickly so that Nick doesn’t have time to hit him back.  
  
“I’m gonna get you for that by beating your ass in pong,” he points at Peter and nods his head.  
  
“We’ll see about that. I beat you the last time.” Peter says triumphantly and I laugh at how proud This is how he always gets when he beats Nick at something.  
  
Nick gives him a dirty look before gulping down a beer and then grabbing another; in that moment I can tell that this is not going to be a sober night for him at all.  
  
***  
  
The crowd grows larger as the night moves on. It’s now eleven o’clock and I think I overheard Peter saying there’s almost a hundred people here. I have no idea where Nick is and I’m pretty content with not knowing because I’m having a good time. I’m on the couch giggling with my best friend Liz, who’s also the co-captain of the cheer team, and we’re on our way to being more than wasted.  
  
“Is it just me or is Peter looking way too good tonight?” She questions, swaying to the beat of ‘In my feelings’ by Drake.  
  
I glance at Peter and look at his profile. He’s playing beer pong with Ned, who Nick has always been jealous of because Ned and Peter are clearly closer, and they’re high fiving after having made a perfect shot. His hair has grown a lot since last year so now he looks a lot like prince charming. My eyes move down to his arms; I tilt my head and wonder if his triceps have actually gotten bigger or if I must be really drunk.  
  
“Yeah I guess he does. You should go for him,” I say.  
  
“You can’t be serious.”

“I’m so serious,” I nudge my shoulder with hers. “Like you said he looks pretty hot tonight.”

“I only said it because you were thinking it,” she raises her eyebrow and takes a gulp of her drink. At the rate she’s drinking she’s going to have the biggest hangover in the morning.

“Pfft I was not. May I remind you that I have a boyfriend.”

“Yeah but everyone knows you and Peter have like some unspoken tension,” Liz says knowingly.

“Okay one, there is no unspoken tension. Two, Peter and I are just friends so stop being weird you’re making me uncomfortable,” I sneak another look at Peter which I guess isn’t so sneaky because when I give Liz my attention again she’s smirking at me.

“Not another word from you,” I say. I see that my cup needs a refill so I use that as an excuse to get away from Liz before she starts interrogating me some more.

In the kitchen, there are a few people lingering around the island making small talk while others are raiding Peter’s pantries looking for food. I’m too drunk to tell them to have some respect for his house so I just head to the punch to get another refill.

Just as I’m finishing scooping juice into my cup I feel someone tap my shoulder lightly and I already know who it is. I turn around to see that Peter’s standing in front of me with low, drunk eyes and a smirk on his face.

“See that’s how you’re supposed to get someone’s attention. Not by scaring them half to death,” he says.

“I didn’t know me poking you would scare you like that,” I lean my back against the island casually and he takes a step towards me, grabbing my cup and taking a sip of my drink before speaking again.

“More like aggressively plunging your finger into my spine.”

“Whatever Parker. Anyways aren’t you supposed to be playing pong?” I ask him, using my neck to point in the direction of where the table is set up.

“Beating everyone was getting old. I need some real competition, where the hell is Nick?” He looks around for a minute trying to locate him but he fails.

“I have no idea but I guess I should try to find him before he does something stupid.”

He laughs. “Good point. I’ll help you look for him.”

We go outside first to make sure Nick isn’t passed out in any bushes because believe it or not, we have found him in that situation several times. When there’s no sign of him in the backyard or in the front of house we go back inside to check the upstairs area.

“He’s either passed out in my bed or puking,” Peter says and I giggle because his words are true. For a person who likes to go so hard at parties, Nick is definitely the biggest lightweight I know.

We check in Peter’s room first but it’s vacant much like the rest of upstairs. No one is allowed to come up here unless the downstairs bathroom is being occupied but other than Peter always makes it clear that upstairs is off limits.

When we can’t find Nick, we decide to take a break and sit against one of the hallway walls with our knees unintentionally touching. Peter let’s out a sigh while leaning his head back before speaking with closed eyes.

“Do you ever wonder what It’d be like if you met me first?”

I look at him with curious eyes. “What do you mean?”

Now his eyes are open and they’re looking at me intensely. “Like do you think…” he hesitates. “Do you think it could’ve been me and you instead of you and Nick?”

I don’t know what to say. Whenever Peter is intoxicated and Nick isn’t around he says things he wouldn’t normally say. This isn’t the first time he’s bringing the topic up and I don’t think it will be the last time.

“You can’t say things like that,” I whisper. Now I’m looking at him and he’s looking at me and even though there’s so much noise downstairs, it suddenly feels so quiet up here.

He lifts his hand up to caress my left cheek. “I know,” he says back. He clears his throat before dropping his hand and looking away from me and now I’m left feeling confused like how I always am when Peter is like this.

Just as I’m about to say something to break the awkward silence Nick stumbles out of Peter’s room with the red cup he’s been holding for what seems like all night. Peter and I stand up too quickly probably making ourselves look a little suspicious but Nick doesn’t realize.

“Babbyyy,” Nick slurs. He walks over to me and grabs me my the waist with one hand before giving me a forceful kiss on the lips. I don’t like it when Nick gets rough but I feel so guilty right now that I give in to it.

I pull away and hold the base of his neck. “Where were you?” I ask.

“Found myself laying in Peter’s closet, no idea how I got there,” he slurs, pulling me in for another kiss. He’s being so affectionate right now that all of the annoyed feelings I had towards him earlier in the night go away.

I forget that Peter is standing there so I pull away. “I should probably get going. Liz’s dad is picking us up and I don’t want my dad waiting up for me.”

“Noo staaayy,” Nick whines.

I ignore him and look at Peter. “Make sure he eats before he goes to bed. You know how he is when he gets a hangover.”

Peter nods but doesn’t say anything. Nick let’s go of my waist and sits where Peter and I were just minutes ago so I take this as my cue to leave to go and find Liz so I can tell her to call her dad.

***

I’m home now and laying in my bed; whenever I try to close my eyes to fall asleep I feel dizzy. Peter’s words are still haunting me and now I cannot stop thinking about how his arms would feel around my waste in this moment.

I know it’s wrong of me to think about being with Peter instead of Nick but this isn’t the first time I’ve thought about it just like it isn’t the first time Peter has, in some way, brought up us being together.

And the unsettling thing is I know it definitely won’t be the last.


	2. Chapter 2

Peter

Saturday 11:42 a.m

I wake up to what sounds like workers drilling into the road outside, but in actuality the noise is coming from Nick’s lifeless body beside me. I feel pressure being pushed onto my face and realize that his feet, covered with his once white socks, are harshly squishing my nose into my skull. His socks smell foul which means his feet probably stink too and my flight instincts just aren’t having it. I nearly push him off of my twin bed trying to move him as far away from me as possible; this earns a grunt from him. You would think that this violent action would wake him up but Nick only twitches lightly before falling back into a deep slumber.

I shake my head before moving off of the bed and into the bathroom to get ready for my shift with May at the shop. I have about an hour and a half until I have to be there which gives me enough time to take a shower and clean up the mess that everyone made last night. Having parties are fun until you realize that drunk teenagers are destructive and don’t give a shit about the owner’s house unless it’s theirs.                                           

I take one look at myself in the mirror and see that I look like complete hell. I got way too drunk way too fast last night and between the keg stand and playing beer pong for two consecutive hours, I’m starting to feel like hell too. I also may have said some things that I’ll regret when I see Michelle at school on Monday, but at least I have today and tomorrow to not think about any of it.

I run the shower water and check to make sure the temperature is just right before taking my clothes off and stepping in. The water is so refreshing on my skin that I can’t help but take a few gulps of it and even though its shower water, it doesn’t taste too bad. I lean my head against the wall and let my eyes fall shut for a little, enjoying the sound of the water falling onto the floor. Nick makes fun of me for taking too much time in the shower but I always ignore him, I like to take my time and make sure my body is thoroughly washed before getting out. Plus, Nick uses three in one shampoo so he has no room to talk. 

I squirt some shampoo in my hand and scrub my hair making sure all the excess gel from last night leaves my scalp. I repeat this step two more times before adding conditioner to the mix and using my hands to finger comb through my waves, or curls or whatever you want to call them. After I’m done with my hair I realize that I’ve wasted a lot of time on it and hurriedly wash up and rinse my body off. Just I step out of the tub and wrap a baby blue towel around my waist, Nick bangs on the door obnoxiously, interrupting my short-lived peace and quiet.

“Hurry up Parker, I gotta piss!”

“I’ll be out in a second,” I yell back.

 I quickly grab my toothbrush and brush my teeth in the sink before Nick can break my door down with another bang. I already have my work clothes, which consists of a black t-shirt with an icon of a smiling ice cream cone and the words “May’s” written in neat cursive underneath it, laid out on one of the counters next to the sink. I put on my clothes and finally exit the bathroom to see Nick laying down on my bed, as if it’s his own, with a bagel that he got from my kitchen.

“Dude c’mon you’re gonna get crumbs on my bed,” I say pointing at the already sprinkled chunks of bagel on my sheets.

“Calm down, I’ll wipe ‘em off,” He replies, but instead of picking them up and throwing them into the trash he just dusts off the bed with his hands making the crumbs fall onto the floor. I don’t even know why I bother.

I make a face and he must know he’s bothering me because he just grins back at me in response, not bothering to wipe off the cream cheese at the corner of his mouth.

“We need to clean up downstairs,” I say, ignoring him making my way to the door. 

“Ah man sorry I can’t I promised Mj I’d take her out to lunch today,” He replies, picking up his belt from the floor and putting them through the loops of his pants.

“Of course,” I mumble so quietly that he doesn’t hear. Whenever I try to get Nick to help me clean up after the party he magically has something to do.

I skip down the steps with Nick close behind and head into the kitchen which honestly doesn’t look as messy as I thought it would. I grab a few black trash bags from underneath one of the counters and start to throw the garbage in it, including the red solo cups that are still half full.

While I’m doing this Nick opens the fridge and grabs a water bottle and the left over piece of cake May brought home from one of her friend’s birthday party last week; he plops down on one of the island chairs. He scarfs down the cake and then proceeds to squeeze the water bottle while he chugs it before letting out a loud burp.

He stands up and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. “Thanks for breakfast Parker,” he pats my back and begins to exit the room.

 “You’re so fucking shitty,” I say back loud enough for him to hear.

“Love you too!” He yells back before slamming the front door. 

I can’t help but laugh. Nick may be the grossest person ever but he’s the funniest person I know and maybe that’s why Mj likes him so much. He has a larger personality than I do and that’s something that I’ve always admired about him.

I try to hurry and finish the cleaning the downstairs area but at the same time I take my time to make sure everything looks good for when May comes home. Whenever I have parties May and her friends who have kids use it as an opportunity to have a girl’s night. They’re all pretty rich so they have no problem spending money on a night in a hotel where they can get inclusive spa treatments. Truth be told, if May had decided to let the death of Uncle Ben ruin her ambitiousness she wouldn’t be as successful as she is today with the ice cream shops.

***

After I’m done cleaning I drive over to the shop while mentally preparing myself for a long, exhausting day. Don’t get me wrong I love helping May, especially with how busy it gets on Saturdays, but ten hour shifts can seriously wear a person out. May’s been looking for more people to hire because the two other people who work here in the summer, Dan and Aimee, went back to college and I won’t be able to help as much because of my football schedule.

I get to the shop in less than ten minutes and before getting out of my car, I take my sunglasses off and place them in the compartment specifically made for them. I get out and lock my door; I don’t know why I’m just noticing but it is way too hot for it being a September day. The good news is that I’ll most likely make really good tips but the bad news is that it’s going to get busy as fuck. 

When I enter the shop there’s already about ten people waiting on line and May is trying to get to each costumer as fast as she can. I don’t bother saying hi to her because she looks busy, instead I look around and assess what needs to be done. I see that we’re already out of mint chocolate chip and cake batter flavors so I head to the freezer in the back to get more buckets of ice cream.

Just as I’m about to open it, the refrigerator door flies open and I’m shocked to see Mj struggling with a bucket of what looks like mint chocolate chip ice cream in her small hands.

“Mj,” I say surprised. “W-what are you doing here?” 

“Peter, hey!” she says breathlessly before hoisting the ice cream making sure it doesn’t slip out of her hands. “I came in here with my Mom and Ava like thirty minutes ago,” she takes a breath. “This place was jam packed so I asked May is she needed any help and now,” another breath. “here I a- would you mind helping me with this?!”

“Right, oh my god I’m sorry,” I quickly take the large bucket of ice cream out of her hand and bring it out front before coming back to the freezer.

I wipe my hands on my pants to get rid of the water droplets that came from the bucket before acknowledging Mj again. “So, uh,” I clear my throat. “You working here now? Like for the rest of the school year?”

She moves her flyaways from in front of her face before crossing her arms. “Well I mean if May needs me after this then yeah sure,” she shrugs.

“May will definitely need you,” I say way too quickly, mentally cursing myself. “I mean with me having football and everything she will…definitely need more hands on deck.”

She looks at me funnily. “O..kay.”

I don’t know what comes over me but my mouth starts saying things before my mind can catch up.

“Listen Mj I’m really sorry about the stuff I said yesterday,” I say, scratching the back of my head. “I uh was very drunk an-”

“Peter, you don’t have to explain yourself to me. It happens, I get it.”

“You get it?” I ask confused.

“Yeah, I do,” she says shyly.

“Yeah, okay you get it,” I nod my head and press my right hand into my left palm. “So, uh I guess you had to ditch your plans with Nick then huh?”

“Oh, no we didn’t have plans. I told him I was gonna hang out with my mom and sister so I couldn’t do anything today,” she says casually.

That’s funny. Nick told me he was going out to eat with Mj. I don’t say anything about it though, I’ll talk to him later to see what he was actually up to.

“Right,” I say and before I begin to talk again, May comes around back. 

“You two, I need the cake batter out here. What’s the holdup?” She asks looking back and forth at the both of us. 

“Totally my fault. Sorry May I’ll get it out there now,” I say. 

“Thank you,” she sings walking away. “Oh, and I need you to show Mj how to scoop the ice cream properly when you’re done,” she yells. 

“Got it,” I reply.

***

The rest of the day is busy but Michelle, May and I manage to get through the burst of costumers with ease. I taught Michelle how to work the cash register and how to sculpt perfect scoops of ice cream; she’s a fast learner. Now we’re just wiping ice cream off of the round tables with wet rags and making sure everything looks clean enough so we can close shop.

I notice Michelle taking out her phone, checking it and then putting it back in her back pocket, an action she’s been repeating for the past hour. With the way her face is looking, I know she’s expecting some form of communication from Nick but I don’t say anything. 

“Hey would you mind giving me a ride home? I forgot I came here with my mom so I’m kinda like stranded now,” she laughs, wiping off the last table.

“Yeah, yeah no problem. Let me just get my keys from the back and tell May I’m taking you,” I say, giving her a small smile before going to do what I just said. 

When I come back Michelle is already outside looking up and at the yellow-orangish sunset that’s painted across the sky. I usually never get out of this place early enough to see things like this or I’m too busy to look outside to notice, but with Mj working here things went by a lot quicker than normal. She’s leaning against the passenger door of my car with her arms crossed, looking so spaced out that I can’t help but want to bring her back to reality.

The bells at the top of the door jingle as I step out and she looks towards the direction of the noise almost instantly.

“You ready?” I ask a little embarrassed, feeling like I’m somehow intruded on whatever personal moment she was having just a few seconds ago.

“Yeah,” she says, pushing herself off of the car so that she can stand up straight.

I unlock the car door and head to the passenger side to get in. Once I get in I buckle my seatbelt and Mj does the same, then I start the car and look to make sure no other vehicle is around and drive off. The music is playing softly in the background for a few minutes before Mj breaks our sort of silence.

“So I,” she clears her throat. “I know I keep asking for favors but would you mind dropping me off at Nick’s?” she asks nervously. “He hasn’t been answering me all day and I’m just a little worried.”

If it were possible to roll your eyes in your mind I think that’s what I’m doing right now. I’m ninety-nine percent sure Nick is passed out and snoring on his couch with a slice of pizza on his chest even though it’s only 7:30. But instead of saying any of that, I make a turn at the next light and head in the opposite direction of Mj’s house to get to Nick’s.

“Yeah sure, no problem,” I say. Except my mind is making it seem like a problem.

“Thanks Parker, you’re the best,” she replies squeezing my arm lightly and I curse at my body for the goosebumps that appear on it seconds after she touches me.

Nick’s parents go out to dinner with each other every Sunday which is why I’m confused when I see a red Audi, that doesn’t belong to them, parked in his driveway next to his car. I’m parked on the street in front of his house and his driveway is on a hill so you wouldn’t be able to see my car from there unless you were looking for it. Michelle is scrolling through twitter so she doesn’t notice what I do until she realizes that I stopped the car.

Michelle furrows her thick eyebrows as she squints her eyes trying to figure out who’s car it is.

“Hey doesn’t that look like Kelly Cruz’s car?” she asks curiously.

Kelly Cruz is a junior at our high school. She’s known for getting around with different guys from the football team and is also on the cheerleading squad with Michelle and Liz. She had a crush on me last year but I shut her down because I had zero feeling for her and was convinced she only wanted me because I was on the football team. She and Michelle don’t get a long too well either and I could not tell you why.

“Wait yeah I think it is,” I say, also squinting. Now that I’m really thinking about it, Kelly is actually the only person I know at Midtown High who drives a red Audi.

Before Michelle can say anything else, Nick exits the passenger’s side of the car before making his way around to the driver’s side and lowers himself so he can lean against her open window. What happens next shocks the shit out of me and if it’s leaving me speechless I can’t imagine what it’s doing to Michelle. 

Nick plants a lengthy kiss on Kelly’s lips and I can see his mouth move to form the words “bye babe” even from this far away. Kelly smiles and pulls out of the driveway and Nick heads into his house without noticing us parked right in front of his house.

My eyes _have_ to be popping out of their sockets right now; I can’t fucking believe what I just witnessed. The car is completely silent and I’m afraid to look at Michelle but I do it anyway because I know how awful she must be feeling right now. I turn my head and see that she’s staring straight in front of her with a blank expression on her face but there are no signs of hurt or sadness, just emptiness.

“Michelle,” I whisper so low that I don’t even know if I heard myself. I reach over to grab her hand but she yanks her arm so far away that I’m unable to touch her.

“Just take me home,” she says coldly, avoiding eye contact with me.

And so that’s what I do. We don’t talk the whole ride to her house until I pull into her driveway and she finally looks at me.

“Peter you cannot tell anyone what you just saw. Not even Nick,” she says, with now pleading eyes looking at me like she could trust me with her whole life in this moment. 

“Michelle are seriously fucking thinking about defending him right n-” 

She cuts me off and gives me an incredulous. “You seriously think I would want to defend a cheater?” Now it’s quiet. Her face goes soft and now she looks like she might cry but she’s holding her tears back.

She speaks again. “I just think I should be the one to confront him about it first since _I’m_ the one he cheated on.”

“Yeah I get that I guess. I just don’t want to see you hurt,” I say, looking at her with sad eyes.

“Well too late for that, right?” She replies back with a dark laugh. She unbuckles her seatbelt and opens the door to exit the car. “See you later, Peter.” And just like that she shuts the car door, and walks into her house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey to all of you reading this :) i know it's been a while but i've been busy doing a lot of back to school stuff. i plan on updating a lot more frequently now that i have an idea of where i want this story to go so yeah please keep reading!


	3. Chapter 3

It’s been two days since Nick and I broke up. My phone has been filled with missed phone calls and over a dozen of unanswered text messages that I refuse to acknowledge. The lengths that I have gone to avoid him, including convincing my parents to let me stay home from school, are comical considering that I didn’t know that I would ever be this kind of girl. I was never one to sulk over situations that didn’t affect my life in a significant way, well at least that was the case up until now. But, even with the knowledge of knowing that this is only my first break up and I’ll get over it eventually, I still feel like curling up in bed and crying my eyes out until I’m numb. However, for the sake of avoiding being interrogated by parents, I’m currently sitting at the kitchen table forcing myself to eat the French toast sticks on my plate.

“Honey, are you feeling any better? You don’t feel warm anymore,” My mom says, reaching over to me to place the back of her hand on my forehead.

“That’s because I’m not sick,” I think to myself.

“Yeah I feel a little better but I think I should give it another day. School is uh really strict about coming in when you’re sick and stuff,” I say, knowing that my mother believes just about anything I tell her.

My mom frowns before nodding. “That’s fine, but are you caught up with your work? That’s the only thing I’m worried about,” She says.

Shit. I’ve been so out of it that I haven’t even been able to think about the upcoming assignments I have due this week.

“Uh- yeah Peter is uh actually coming over later to give me the work,” I say, regretting every word coming out of my mouth. The last thing I want to do is communicate with my ex’s best friend.

“That’s nice of him,” my dad chimes in, looking up from the morning newspaper in his hands.

“That is very nice of him,” my mother agrees with a smile, showing obvious interest in me mentioning Peter. “I suppose Nick will be over later tonight too?”

“No,” I say too abruptly. “Well he’s visiting his family in New Hampshire this week.”

“That’s random,” Ava says, her mouth filled with chewed up bits of blueberry waffle. I give her leg a gentle, but forceful kick and mouth at her to shut up. She must have gotten the memo because she doesn’t say anything else and instead continues to eat her breakfast.

“Well good thing Peter will be around later if you need anything, your dad and I are going to your sister’s talent show after work,” My mom says, oblivious to what just happened.

“Mom,” I sigh. “Peter isn’t coming to babysit me, he’s just dropping off some assignments,” I say.

“I’m just saying,” she replies, dragging out the g. “It’d be nice if he stayed here and hung out a little bit, you don’t seem to be contagious and you haven’t had teenage interaction in two days.”

“I’ll think about it. Now may I please be excused I don’t feel too good,” I ask, getting up without waiting to receive permission.

I head to my room and shut the door behind me before I go over to my bed and pull my sheets back so I can get in. Once I’m tucked in I decide that I’m going to text Peter and ask him what I missed in English and History class.

I don’t know why but the Peter excuse was the first one that came to mind when my mom put me on the spot. I mean, I could have said Liz was coming over later but I knew that if I did invite her over she would just pity me and ask all sorts of questions that I have no interest in answering. Peter is the only one who knows what happened and judging by the incident in the car the other day, I doubt he’d bring it up again unless I wanted to talk about it. Plus, Liz isn’t in any of my important classes anyway, so it would be a pointless for her to come here.

I grab my phone off of the night stand and compose a message to Peter.

Me: Hey. Did I miss anything in class today?

I decide to keep it short and simple to let him know that this is strictly business. He responds within minutes and I waste no time in opening his message and replying to him.

Peter: Yea. Essay on The Giver due on Friday and cold war project due next Tuesday.

Me: okay thanks. would you mind sending me the prompt for the essay?

Peter: He gave us hand copies. I can grab one up for u and swing by ur house later to give it to u if u want.

Me: yeah sure that sounds good.

Peter: Is there a specific time I should come?

Me: anytime is fine.

I wait ten minutes for him to respond and when I notice that he read the message and isn’t going to reply, I turn my phone off and set it back on the nightstand. I allow myself to fall back to sleep since my parents and sibling left for the day and Peter won’t be here until school is over. 

I wake up to heavy rapping on the front door downstairs. I rub my eyes before sitting up and leaning over my bed to check the time on my phone. It’s 2:45 which means that school got let out fifteen minutes ago and Peter Parker is here to give me the instructions to our English assignment. 

I slip on my slides and bounce down the stairs to open the front door for him. When I do open it, he’s standing there sporting a blue flannel, a pair of light wash jeans and his infamous green new balance sneakers. I glance up at his face and he’s giving me a closed mouth grin but his eyes show that he is worried, probably because I look like I haven’t been taking care of myself these past couple of days. It’s the truth though, the maximum amount of sleep I’ve gotten is four hours minus the nap I took today and I haven’t showered yet so I know I must smell. 

“Hey,” he greets me, pushing himself onto his tippy toes before letting his feet fall back down on the ground.

“Hi,” I murmur back to him, my voice weak and raspy from having just woken up. I cross my arms and pinch the excess skin on my elbow, something I do when I’m anxious. 

I want to look away from him, look at anything besides him, but for some reason I can’t take my eyes off of his face no matter how hard I try. 

“So here’s the prompt. It got a little crumpled in my bag, I’m kind of not the most organized person,” he says nervously, handing the piece of paper to me. Why is he nervous?

“Thanks, I appreciate you for doing this Peter. I really do,” I say, noticing that by the way he’s standing he feels awkward.

“Don’t worry about it, it’s what friends are for,” he says, the smile returning back to his face slowly. 

We stand there for a few seconds, both waiting for the other person to say something. 

“So do-” I begin to say. 

“How-” he says at the same time. 

He clears his throat and I blush a little. Why am I blushing? 

“You go first,” he laughs, bringing one arm up to his hair and pushing it back so that his curls can sit. 

“Okay um well do you want to come in for a little? My parents won’t be back until later and they think I could use some company,” I say, rolling my eyes but internally hoping he’ll say yes and spare me the embarrassment. 

“Yeah sure, I can chill for a little. But are you sure you want to?” He asks, a look of concern flooding his face. 

“Why wouldn’t I want to?” I question him. 

“I mean because of everything that happened I figured you would want to be alone,” he says, confused. 

“Do you want to come in or not Peter?” I ask in an annoyed tone, starting to think this isn’t a good idea. 

“Of course I do. Sorry for asking I’ll shut up,” He says. 

“Thank you,” I say, opening the door more widely and stepping to the slide while gesturing to him with my hand to come in. 

I lead him into the living room and sit down at the end of large couch while he sits in my dad’s reclining chair. 

“Don’t let my dad see you sitting in his char,” I laugh, grabbing a blanket 

“It’s so comfy no wonder why he lives on this thing,” Peter laughs, pulling the side lever to recline it all the way back. 

“My mom wants to get him a new one for christmas or something, that thing is crusty,” I say, looking at the faint beer stains on the arm of the chair. 

“Eh, I think this chair makes it feel more homey,” he says. 

“I guess. Do you wanna watch a movie?” I ask, grabbing the remote off of the coffee table and turning the tv on. 

“Yeah sure, what should we watch?” He asks. 

“Hm I’m in the mood for scary, have you seen the conjuring?” I ask. 

“That shit is not scary, it’s predictable as hell,” he says. 

“It is not! My eyes were covered the entire time. I don’t even think I watched most of it,” I exclaim. 

“So why would you want to watch something that makes you want to shit your pants?” He asks curiously. 

“I don’t know, I guess I like being scared,” I say, shrugging my shoulders.

“Alright well put it on, let’s see what you’re talking about,” he says, getting up to turn the living room light off and coming back to sit down in the spot next to me. “I get scared too,” he says, looking down at me with playful eyes. I nudge his shoulder playfully and turn to the screen to watch the film. 

In the middle of the movie, the room is quiet and I’m sitting so close to Peter that I silently curse at myself for it, but I can’t help but find this position comfortable. Both of his hands are placed on his lap and his eyes are trained on the little girl sleepwalking into her sister’s room. 

“You know, I used to sleep walk when I was around eight years old,” he says, breaking the silence. 

“Really? Did you know when it was happening?”

“No, May used to get freaked out because I would walk into her room and just stand at the end of her bed,” he says. 

“Okay that is a little creepy,” I say, laughing. 

“Oh one hundred percent. She even took me to a doctor because it was getting so bad and the doc said it was because I was sleep deprived,” Peter says. 

“Why were you sleep deprived?” I say, wondering why an eight year old kid would be exhausted all the time. 

He hesitates. “I used to have nightmares about the accident and I felt like the only way I could avoid being afraid was by not sleeping,” he murmurs, eyes locked on the television screen. 

“Peter I’m sorry,” I say, feeling bad for asking. 

“Don’t worry about it Mj, I’m okay now,” he says, looking at me and giving me a reassuring smile. 

I still feel uneasy though, It must have been hard for Peter to lose his parents at such a young age. I can’t even imagine losing one, and here he is living with the death of both of his parents constantly on his mind. I know he’ll never say this, but I think he feels guilty for surviving. I can see it his face, I can see the pain in his eyes whenever he mentions it. 

“Peter, I’m sorry for snapping at you in the car the other day. I’m really sorry, I was a bitch,” I say, the words fumbling out of my mouth, sounding like gibberish. 

Peter looks down at me in confusion. “What? No, don’t apologize for that, you were angry and you had the right to be.”

“I still shouldn’t have yelled at you. I was just mad and you were only trying to comfort me,” I say, feeling the tears beginning to form in my eyes. 

“Mj it’s fine. Don’t beat yourself up about it, I get it, really,” he says, lifting one of his hands off of his lap and hesitating before wrapping an arm around my shoulder. I place my head against his chest, the feeling of sadness coming back stronger than it had in the past two days. 

“Have you spoken to him?” I ask. 

“Oh no, If I had I would not have hesitated to punch him in his face,” he says, gripping my shoulder a little more tightly. 

“Peter…” I say. “You’re his best friend. Don’t let me come in between your friendship, please,” I say weakly. 

“Michelle what he did was fucked up, best friend or not,” Peter says. “Nick is in the wrong and you and I both know it.” 

“I know, but you guys play sports with each other and have the same friends. Everyone is going to hate me and I don’t want them to hate you too,” I say, fumbling my fingers. 

“You can’t possibly think people are going to hate you. You did nothing wrong.” 

“I know I didn’t do anything wrong,” I say. “But you know how high school boys are. Nick is the alpha and they’re just going to pretend like he didn’t cheat on me.” 

“I’m not going to pretend it didn’t happen,” Peter whispers. 

“You’re different Peter and you know it. Look don’t worry about it, let’s just watch the movie,” I say, lifting my head off of his shoulder and wiping the few tears that managed to slip out of my eyes. 

We finish the first movie and end up watching the sequel and Annabelle as well. Midway through Annabelle, I notice that Peter’s head is tilted back and his eyes are closed. His neck looks like it’s about to snap, so I move to push his body down lightly into a lying position. I get up, pull his feet onto the sofa and use one of the throw blankets on the coach to cover his body. He scrunches his nose and stirs a little at first, but once he finds himself in a comfortable position his face turns peaceful. 

I decide to take a shower before my parents come home, knowing that my mom will get on me for having Peter over without cleaning myself up, not that he even cares. When I get out I throw on a pair of leggings, a salmon sweatshirt and put my slightly wet hair into a messy bun. I throw out my contacts that have been dried up from me not taking them out last night and put my glasses on. 

I go downstairs and see that Peter is sitting up again and scrolling through his phone. He looks at me when I approach him and I already know that he’s gonna say something sly.

“You take years in the shower,” he says, continuing to look at whatever is on his phone.

“I haven’t showered in two days, it was much needed,” I reply, sitting next to him. 

“Yeah your pits did smell really bad.” 

“They did not!” I screech, grabbing the nearest pillow and hitting him on the head with it.

“Woah woah, don’t mess up the hair,” he yells, guarding his head with his hands.

“You already fucked it up from sleeping on it anyways,” I say, now hugging the pillow in my lap. 

“Yeah, yeah whatever,” he grumbles. “I should probably get going though, it’s getting late.” I look at the time and see that it’s almost 9 o’clock which means that Peter has been here for almost seven hours. 

“Yeah it is pretty late. I’ll walk you out,” I say, getting up while Peter puts his shoes back on. I walk him to the front door and when he opens it, to both of our surprises Nick is standing on the porch. His eyes look at mine, and then Peter’s and then mine again and then Peter’s again.

He scoffs. “I bet you couldn’t wait,” he says looking at Peter with dark eyes. 

“What are you talking about man?” Peter says, knowing exactly what Nick is talking about.

“There’s nothing going on Nick. Peter came by to drop off some assignments,” I say in defense of Peter.

“Oh yeah? At 9 p.m? I’m having a hard time believing that,” He spits out.

“I’m not asking for you to believe anything. It’s officially none of your business,” I say.  
“Em c’mon you haven’t been answering your phone for the past two days,” Nick says. “What’s going on?”

“And you would think you’d be here sooner if you were actually worried about me! But you were probably just with Emily right?” I ask, cocking my head to the side waiting for his response.

“Wh-what are you talking about?” Nick asks nervously and then he turns to Peter. “Parker did you say something to her?”

“Okay don’t drag me into your shit. I had no fucking idea about your secret affair,” Peter says annoyed. “Just admit you’re a piece of shit.”

Nick decides to ignore his harsh comments and turns back to me. “Em I don’t know what you saw but it wasn’t anything babe I promise,” he looks at me with pleading eyes. 

“Do you honestly think I’m an idiot Nick? I cannot believe you right now! Just fucking leave dumbass,” I yell, slamming the door in his face, tears now streaming down my face as a pair of arms wrap around my waist. 

“I hate him,” I say sobbing into Peter’s chest, before he pulls me back to look at me with both arms on my shoulders. 

“Okay, I may have an idea,” Peter says.

“Wh-what are you talking about?” I ask him, not being able to stop myself from letting out several hiccups.

“You said you hate Nick right?”

“Yes, so much,” I say with more tears threatening to spill out of my eyes. This day has been exhausting and I know that whatever Peter is about to say is going to be even more draining. 

“What if I told him you that we could get revenge on him and make him hurt they way you’re hurting right now?” he asks, looking at me with hopeful eyes.

“How would we do that?” I ask curiously, wondering why he would want to plot something against his so called best friend.

“Okay this might sound a little crazy but….what if we pretend to date to make Nick jealous?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys so I know this took me forever to update. I was originally going to stop writing this one but I didn't realize how many of you liked it. I'll be writing this story a long with We All Fall Down so if you haven't read the preface for that please check it out (: Thanks!

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys this is the first fanfic I'm writing so it probably won't be that good, but this is my way of getting better at it so I hope you guys enjoy!


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